European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced that US people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 can visit European Union (EU) countries this summer. “From what I’ve seen, U.S. people are using European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved vaccines. This will enable their travel and free movement to EU countries. All 27 member states will unconditionally accept anyone who has had the vaccines approved by the EMA.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told The New York Times that U.S. people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 will be allowed to visit the European Union (EU) this summer.
In this way, the European Union (EU) will have changed its travel policy, which has been in place for more than a year. In March 2020, EU leaders restricted the entry of most foreign passengers into the EU. Even when the bloc’s borders were partially opened in the summer, the U.S. was too risky to accept travelers from that country.
“From what I’ve seen, U.S. people are using European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved vaccines. This will enable their travel and free movement to EU countries.”
However, all three vaccines allowed for use in the US, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson, have been approved by the EU’s drug regulator. “All 27 member states will unconditionally accept anyone who has had the vaccines approved by the EMA,” von der Leyen said.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that US and EU officials are in talks over-vaccination certificates that will allow tourists to prove their vaccination status.
Last month, the EU announced that it was working on a vaccination passport system that would allow its vaccinated citizens to travel within the bloc more easily.
Von der Leyen, on the other hand, did not give a timeline for when EU borders would open to US tourists, noting that this would depend on the state of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
The number of daily cases of coronavirus in the U.S. remains relatively constant, and vaccination rates are rising in the country. An average of 3 million people is vaccinated every day in the U.S., according to the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the latest data, more than half of U.S. adults received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 36 percent were fully vaccinated.
However, despite being one of the leading countries when it comes to vaccines, the U.S. may struggle to achieve herd immunity, depending on the rate of reopening and the variations of coronavirus. Recent polls show that 40 percent of the country’s adult population may refuse the vaccine.
